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Computerworld: Microsoft has kicked off a "two-year countdown" to the death of Windows XP and Office 2003. The company plans to end support for the aging software packages on April 8, 2014, and it encourages all users to upgrade before then. "Windows XP and Office 2003 were great software releases for their time, but the technology environment has shifted," explained Microsoft's Stella Chernyak.

While some companies have been waiting for the release of Windows 8, which will be a major shift away from current Windows technology, Microsoft encourages customers to upgrade to Windows 7 now. "If your organization has not started the migration to a modern PC, you are late," the countdown website proclaims.